There is a substantial market worldwide in memorabilia and collectable items. Of particular interest to collectors are items which have been used or worn by a participant in an event of significance. For example, items which have been used in a major sporting event, which have used or worn by a sports participant whilst achieving a significant sporting feat, or which are known to have been worn by significant theatrical celebrities are known to be highly desired by collectors of memorabilia.
However, due to the high desirability and the consequent high value of such memorabilia items, it is not uncommon for items to be offered for sale with a fraudulent claim that the items are associated with an event or event participant of significance. As a result, a degree of uncertainty exists for prospective purchasers of memorabilia items because no guarantee exists as to the authenticity of the item.
A further difficulty also arises with memorabilia items in that it is difficult to place a value on a pre-existing memorabilia item because relatively little information is available as to previous sales dates and sales amounts and uncertainty exists as to the genuineness of the item.